Stupid tyre question alert!

[NeilG88]

Good afternoon all!

The tyres on my bus are 'perrished' according to my man in the know and the holder of the MOT stamp...

The side wall of my tyres say 185/R14. here comes the stupid question...

How do I find out the profile if it is not stamped on the tyre:confused:

Having standard 14" steelies and a lowered bus I would like to go for a slightly lower profile tyre to give a bit more clearence in the arches but have no idea what to go for if I dont know what I have!

VW heritage suggest 65 as a standard profile so I would imagine that if I went for 60 or 55 it would do what I wanted, what do you think?

Cheers as always!

[tex]

Neil,
You can easily measure your profile, it's simply the amount of tyre between the outer edge of the rim, and what is in contact with the road, 65mm sounds about right.
If you do go for a lower profile, your acceleration and speedo will be slightly affected too as the wheels will be a smaller circumference, but nothing to get excited over!
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Tex:)

[NeilG88]

Cheers Tex, I did say it was a stupid question!:)
As for acceleration? What's that?! :D

[tex]

Ha, ha, it's that whip lash feeling you get as you stamp your foot down and your bus roars, pinning you to the back of your seat as your scream away from the lights..... ok, maybe not!:D

[A5H]

The profile is a percentage of the width, so a 185/65 has a profile that is 65% of 185mm (120mm)
If there is no profile shown it means it is the default of 80 I think.

Check somewhere like this http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
to show the difference in existing and replacement tyre size and how it affects your speed/speedo :)

[Glen]

I have a very similar question.
I am also looking to put lower profile tyres to my van.
I currently have 80 profile (I think), and would like to go quite a bit lower - 55 perhaps.
Can anyone give an idea of work and cost involved with recalibration for this change please?

[JustinOval]

The profile is a percentage of the width, so a 185/65 has a profile that is 65% of 185mm (120mm)
If there is no profile shown it means it is the default of 80 I think.

Check somewhere like this http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
to show the difference in existing and replacement tyre size and how it affects your speed/speedo :)

Yep, 80 if no ratio given.

[Nic B-C]

i thought it was 85 but you are probably right
if getting new ones though make sure they are commercially rated